Obligatory Chance Thread for Top Schools

<p>I know chance threads don't really do anything, but having used CC for about a year now, I kind of want to make my own. My main concern is being academically competitive (grades aren't perfect); I know subjective stuff is impossible to judge upon unless you are an adcom. So here it is!</p>

<p>Schools of interest: UMich (LSA), Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia</p>

<p>GRADES
Weighted GPA (capped at 4.0): 4.0
Unweighted GPA: ~3.93 (I think - didn't count band/orch because I don't think they count those anyway)</p>

<p>Classes:
9th grade
-Biology A/A
-English 9 A/A+
-Honors Algebra 2 A/A
-Honors Spanish 2 A/A
-World History A/A
(-Concert Band A/A
-Symphony Orchestra A/A)</p>

<p>10th grade
-Honors Geophysical Science (weird class in our district) A/A
-AP English Language A/A-
-AP Calculus BC A-/A
-Honors Spanish 3 A/A
-AP US History A-/A-
-Symphony Band A/A</p>

<p>11th grade
-AP Chemistry A-/A
-AP English Literature A/A
-AP Physics C A/A
-Honors Spanish 4 A/A-
-AP Economics (micro + macro) A/A
-Dual-enroll (at community college) Calculus 3 A-
-Dual-enroll Basic Statistics A
-Symphony Band A/A</p>

<p>Planned 12th grade schedule
-Dual-enroll (at the University of Michigan) Linear Algebra + Differential Equations
-Dual-enroll (at U-M) some statistics class
-AP Spanish Language
-Honors Humanities (unique to our district; it's a two-credit course and is considered one of the hardest in the school)
-Symphony Band</p>

<p>SCORES
ACT: 36 (35E/36M/36R/36S/10W)
SATI: took the June one; haven't received my score yet
SATII: 800 Math 2; 790 Chemistry; 780 US History; 670 Literature (only sending Lit to Yale b/c they don't allow score choice)</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS
All of these are for all four years of high school, unless otherwise stated. I've listed the top position achieved in that time period.
-Principal clarinet of the Michigan Youth Symphony Orchestra (will be submitting a supplement!)
-Winner of many local competitions; publicly performed with 2 orchestras (one of which was professional) and a professional band.
-Finalist in Navy Band Concerto Competition (national-level); could not attend
-First Place (out of many) at the 2014 American Protege International Concerto Competition; performed at Carnegie Hall
-...and waiting on a couple of other larger competitions. Teacher is a professor at the University of Michigan, if that is worth mentioning.</p>

<p>-Piano (will also be submitting a supplement)
-Finalist + honors recital winner (aka a lot of people "win") for many local competitions
-Honorable Mention for state-level concerto competition
-NOTE: On paper, it might look like I am a mediocre pianist at best, but having played for 13 years, I can't imagine not submitting a recording of my playing; my piano teacher is also a professor at the University of Michigan, so I would like to think that I'm pretty good (or he wouldn't accept me into his studio)</p>

<p>-Drum major of the school marching band (became DM in 11th grade, but marched before that)
-Nothing much to say here, other than that it's a student-elected position and there is only one (some schools have multiple drum majors, apparently)</p>

<p>-President of the Symphonic Ambassadors Club
-Basically a club that sends musicians from our school to places around our community to perform
-Organized a bi-weekly performance arrangement with a local retirement home that has been running for about a year now.</p>

<p>-Event leader in Science Olympiad
-Several regional + invitational medals
-One first-place (Fermi Questions) and one second-place (Disease Detectives) medal at States. Team did not make nationals.</p>

<p>-Link Crew leader (started 11th grade)
-Helping freshmen around at the start of school. Pretty involved, but it's only for a few weeks at the beginning of the year.</p>

<p>-Violin (will NOT be submitting a supplement lol)
-Toured Europe with the Blue Lake International Youth Symphony Orchestra the summer before my freshman year - not sure if I should include this
-Took lessons through 10th grade; still play chamber music for Solo & Ensemble and busking during the summer</p>

<p>-Church youth group
-Periodic volunteering around the city; we got a new youth pastor this year so we haven't had as many opportunities recently
-Mission trips to Guatemala (1 week) and Detroit (1 week)</p>

<p>-National Honor Society (11th-12th grade)
-Whatever</p>

<p>RECOMMENDATIONS + ESSAY
-Counselor letter: she's in charge of about 100 of us, so it won't be too personal. Our school does have interviews for this purpose, and mine went pretty well. She asked for some contacts (e.g. my clarinet teacher) from whom she will incorporate information about my extracurricular stuff.
-Teacher letters: English Lit teacher and Economics teacher. I was one of 2 juniors in my Lit class, and since the seniors left, we've been having this book club; I think my English teacher will write a pretty individualized letter. I am a top econ student, according to my teacher, so that one should be pretty good too, if not as personalized.
-Essay: errrr no point writing stuff about that here. Actually, I have a rough draft, so if anyone is interested in reading it and giving me some feedback, I would appreciate it.</p>

<p>DEMOGRAPHICS
Gender: M
Race: Asian
State of residence: Michigan
Family income: middle class; on the higher end, but not really "upper middle class." Will be applying for financial aid.</p>

<p>...and I think that's it! Sorry for the long post and my lack of formatting skills.</p>

<p>I would say you will get into UMich and 1 of the 4 ivy schools listed</p>

<p>No chance. ACT too low. A 36/2400 is awful.</p>

<p>Nah im jk. You van probably get into some of those schools. They are just really selective</p>

<p>You’ll most definitely get into Michigan, and ideally get at least 2/4 on your Ivies. </p>

<p>I think you have a sure shot at UMich. Ivies, by their nature, are unpredictable. However I think you have a very good chance at getting into one of your Ivy choices. Just make sure your essay is very compelling. By the way, I will read your draft and critique it if you want.</p>

<p>@alwayssona, I’ve PM’d my essay to you. Thanks in advance for your help!</p>

<p>smh I can’t forgot that I didn’t list cross-country (all 4 years) under my extracurriculars. In terms of importance, I’d put it right under marching band. Probably doesn’t make much of a difference, but I just had to note that.</p>

<p>bump…</p>

<p>Final bump, I promise. Main question is whether I am competitive for top schools without an unweighted 4.0.</p>

<p>You’re competitive for most of these schools, and I reckon that you’ll get in one of the Ivies. Best of luck! </p>

<p>Chance me back: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1662008-2-8-gpa-2000-first-time-sat-urm-umass-amherst-others-ea.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1662008-2-8-gpa-2000-first-time-sat-urm-umass-amherst-others-ea.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I definitely think you’ll get into UMich, and one or two of the Ivies. Your grades are great, superb scores, and the extracurriculars are excellent (alliteration is necessary haha)! I think you’re definitely a very competitive applicant. Work on that essay and you’ll have as good a chance as anyone.</p>

<p>Wow really good application but make sure you have really recs and essays. My dad works at harvard admission officer and says you basically can only get in if you have amazing ec s and personality. He cant express how many students that had a 4.0 gpa and perfect sats get rejected. However they want people to stand out. One person he said wanted to be a writer had really low gpa 3.6 or 7 but wrote for the boston herald. And thats what they love. Furthermore you dont want to keep adding to ecs of you didnt make a difference in the club or activity. You are probs a caring person but they will look at you as if your trying to beef up your application. Go to the school and show thag you want to be there. Bottom line only put the things on your ecs that you loved the most. </p>

<p>Harvard-low reach (if you follow my advice, message me if you want more)
Princeton- high reach(you can get in if your an unreal athlete or a legacy)
Yale-low match/low reach
Columbia-match</p>

<p>Umich-high match</p>

<p>Chance me back</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1668370-what-are-my-chances-of-getting-into-nyu-stern.html#latest”>http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1668370-what-are-my-chances-of-getting-into-nyu-stern.html#latest&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>Thank for chancing me.</p>

<p>Grade and scores are great as you know.</p>

<p>I do see the depth in the EC, and actually an Asian majoring in music (if that’s what you want) may be quite unique. Now there if no way to predict, but you should get into at least 1-2 of the top schools. </p>

<p>Good luck man!</p>

<p>Michigan: In
HYP and Columbia: High reach</p>

<p>Asian male… Good luck</p>

<p>PM your essay and I can help revise.</p>

<p>University of Michigan- safety, Columbia- reach (maybe a low reach, and your chances would increase alot if you apply ED), as for the others I’d say reach, as they are for anybody. </p>

<p>I still think you have a really great chance at the Ivies- it’s good that you are accomplished alot in certain areas (music, science, etc). Good Luck!</p>